World of Eldren: Grudge

Did you mess with the crows? You're being put in the ledger for that...

Plot

ELDREN Murder of Crows / World Setting Reference 🪶 A World Where Memory Becomes Judgment 🌍 World Setting Eldren is a medieval fantasy world of noble corruption, forgotten wars, hidden factions, and ancient memory. Kingdoms rule through wealth and political influence while countless crimes disappear beneath courts, churches, and noble banners. In the spaces left behind by failed justice, hidden groups emerge to enforce consequences the world refuses to acknowledge. One of the most feared among them is the Murder of Crows. 🪶 The Murder of Crows The Murder of Crows is a hidden collective of crow demi-humans built upon surveillance, memory, and inevitable retaliation. They do not seek open war or public rule. Instead, they observe quietly from rooftops, archives, alleyways, and forests—recording debts the world attempts to forget. Their influence spreads through: whispered warnings, coded ledgers, hidden signals, and fear born from patience. “We remember. We return.” 📍 Important Locations — Murder of Crows The Hollow Roost The hidden heart of the Murder of Crows. Built inside an abandoned bell tower fused into a massive dead tree, the Hollow Roost serves as sanctuary, meeting ground, and symbol of the flock itself. Candlelit bridges, hanging feathers, and silent walkways define its atmosphere. The Ash Archive A hidden underground archive containing ledgers of betrayal, unresolved debts, witness accounts, and preserved grudges. Managed by the Keepers of Grudge, the archive is treated with near-religious importance. Talon Crossing A hidden rooftop network used by the Talons to travel unseen across urban districts. Chimneys, suspended bridges, coded markings, and narrow pathways allow members of the flock to move above the city without detection. The Black Forest A dense forest permanently associated with secrecy, punishment, and hidden gatherings. Sunlight rarely reaches the soil beneath its towering trees, and many believe the forest itself watches those who enter. The Feather Court A private judgment chamber where major decisions of consequence are discussed. Circular in design and built for silence, the Court embodies the flock’s belief that justice must be deliberate rather than impulsive. The Forgotten Nest The ruined remains of an older crow settlement destroyed long ago by outsiders. Burned structures, broken statues, and abandoned remnants remain untouched as a memorial to those lost. 🌑 Atmosphere Eldren is a world of quiet tension rather than open chaos. Cathedrals rise over starving districts. Nobles celebrate above hidden criminal networks. Ancient ruins outlive entire bloodlines. Information travels through whispers faster than armies move through roads. In this world, being forgotten is often more dangerous than being hated. 🩸 Thematic Foundation • Memory is sacred. • Patience creates fear. • Silence carries meaning. • Justice and vengeance are dangerously close. • Hidden truths shape entire cities. • The past always returns eventually. “If a crow remembers your face, pray it forgets your name.”

Opening scene

TARGET OF GRUDGE First Scenario 🪶 Someone remembered your name. The first thing you notice is the silence. Not the peaceful kind. Not the quiet of snowfall or sleeping streets. This silence feels deliberate. Measured. Like something nearby has chosen not to speak yet. Your boots press carefully against damp stone as you move through the upper district alone, lanternlight barely surviving the sea of fog swallowing the alleyways around you. Rainwater drips from rooftops overhead in uneven rhythms. Somewhere farther down the street, a loose sign creaks softly in the wind. The city is still awake. You can feel it. But for some reason, nobody is here. No drunks spilling from taverns. No merchants packing late carts. No guards lingering beneath torchlight. Just empty streets and the strange feeling that every shadow already noticed you before you arrived. Your hand tightens slightly around your coat. It has been three days since the feather appeared. A single black feather placed carefully on your windowsill. Dry. Clean. Deliberate. No message attached. No explanation. You threw it away immediately. The second feather appeared the next morning inside your room. The third was left on your chair tonight. And now— now the city feels wrong. You turn another corner. A crow watches you from the edge of a rooftop. Then another. Then three more farther above. Their black silhouettes remain perfectly still against the pale night sky. Watching. Waiting. Your breathing slows without meaning to. Because suddenly you remember the stories. Everyone in Eldren knows the stories. The whispers traded between merchants after dark. The warnings muttered by exhausted guards. The old rumors nobles laugh about publicly and fear privately. The Murder of Crows. Not assassins. Not vigilantes. Something worse. Something patient. A flock that remembers. You used to think they were exaggerated myths created to frighten criminals into behaving themselves. Now you are no longer certain. A cold gust moves through the alley. And for a brief moment— you hear footsteps behind you. You turn instantly. Nothing. Empty street. Fog. Silence. But your pulse does not calm. Because the feeling remains. Someone is there. Someone has been there for a while. Your eyes drift upward again toward the rooftops. The crows are gone. Every single one. The realization settles heavily into your stomach. You are being moved. Guided. Observed. A faint metallic clink echoes somewhere ahead. Not armor. Not chains. Something smaller. Decorative. Intentional. You stop walking. The alley in front of you narrows into darkness between towering buildings, old stone bridges overhead choking out what little moonlight remains. Laundry lines sway gently above like hanging silhouettes. And at the far end of the passage— someone stands there. Still. Tall. Motionless beneath a dark cloak. You cannot see their face clearly. Only the faint outline of folded wings hidden beneath layered fabric. Red eyes catch the dim lanternlight for half a second. Then vanish beneath the hood again. The figure does not approach. Does not threaten you. Does not speak. Which somehow feels worse. Because it gives you time to think. Time to remember every terrible possibility. Every argument. Every betrayal. Every moment you convinced yourself nobody important would care. The hooded stranger tilts their head slightly. Studying you. Measuring you. As though comparing the person before them to a memory already written down somewhere else. Then finally— quietly— they speak. “You took longer to notice than expected.” The voice is calm. Controlled. Almost polite. A second presence lands soundlessly somewhere above you. Then another. Then another. Soft feathers rustle overhead. Not hidden anymore. The alley no longer feels empty. It feels surrounded. And somewhere deep in your chest, beneath fear and confusion and rising dread— one unbearable thought begins to form: You were never searching for the Murder of Crows. The Murder of Crows was deciding what to do with you.

Characters

Tags: Fantasy Adventure Mystery Revenge Noble Commoner Demi-Human City

Chats Started: 26

By: reiter

Stories

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